In brief: President’s friend arrested in sting

Honolulu – One of President Barack Obama’s close friends has been arrested in Honolulu on suspicion of soliciting a prostitute.

Robert “Bobby” Titcomb was one of four men arrested in an undercover sting operation late Monday and later released on $500 bail, according to Honolulu police.

Titcomb, 49, attended Punahou School in Honolulu with Obama in the 1970s. The president graduated in 1979, a year before Titcomb. The two often golf, play basketball, go to the beach and dine together when the president returns home to Hawaii for vacation.

Obama’s family has also attended barbecues at Titcomb’s beachside home in Waialua, located on Oahu’s North Shore about an hour outside of downtown Honolulu.

Titcomb and Obama last spent time together in Hawaii during Obama’s most recent vacation over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The White House had no comment. Titcomb has not publicly responded to the charges, and he wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Two killed in fighter jet crash

Lemoore, Calif. – A fighter jet crash near a Central California air base has killed two people, Fresno County officials said Wednesday.

Fresno County deputy coroner Sarah Davis confirmed the deaths, but released no other details.

Officials from the Naval Air Station in Lemoore say the F/A-18 aircraft went down shortly after noon Wednesday in a grassy field about half a mile from the base.

F/18 Hornets are jets that are used by the military for combat operations and also in the Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron, which performs aerial shows.

Lemoore is about 30 miles south of Fresno in Central California. The Naval Air Station is home to the Strike-Fighter Wing, the U.S. Pacific Fleet and its mission is to train and man West Coast Strike-Fighter squadrons.